Sunday, November 16, 2008

God's Blessings or Consequences

Have you ever wondered why God chooses to allow bad things happen in life? Why our children do not follow our guidance, why the world chooses to practice unethical behavior, why good people do stupid corrupt things. I was strongly convicted today by our lessons from the book of II Samuel. It spoke of King David's plight because of his betrayal to God through his adulteressaffair with Bathsheba and the resulting murder of her husband. David went for a long time thinking he had gotten away with his sins. Then God sent Nathan to tell David a story of a farmer who owned a small little baby sheep. The sheep was as a child to the farmer. He cared and loved the small helpless sheep and gave it so much love and care as that of a family member. Then there was another man who owned thousands of sheep and cared for them as a herder only. The second man had a visitor come for dinner and instead of taking one of his many sheep for a meal he stole the first man's family pet and fed it to the guest. The farmer was devastated.This story infuriated King David and David said the second man would have to pay 4 fold for the other man's loss and as their custom, should be put to death for stealing. Nathan told David, "You are the second man David. Your God in heaven has given you so much. You have many wives yet you stole the wife of another man. The only wife he had. He was a loyal servant to you and you betrayed him and had him murdered." This made King David reflect on his sins and repented & confessed his sin to God. God granted immediate forgiveness, yet because of David's sin, sentenced him to a life of misery and sadness for him & his children to follow, starting with the death of David's new son from the affair with Bathsheba. David was God's chosen one. His beloved. God would have done anything for David had he asked. He would have given him the world without limitations if only David had stayed in God's will. But because he strayed he was ultimately punished. God is holy & just to forgive us of our sins if we confess and are truly sorry for them, but that does not necessarily keep us from facing the consequences of them. We can have the sins erased, but not the penalty nor the hurt and pain that our sins cause others!So each and every minute we must strive to do good by God. Staying in the word of God to help guide us and to help keep our lives free from sin. Keeping our minds full of God leaves no room for sin. We cannot afford our sins to interfere in the lives of our children. Pray for guidance each day and for growth and forgiveness. Pray for our children to follow God's direction and not be swayed by the world's motto of "If it feels good do it" Please, don't -"Just do it.!"May God's blessings be on you and your families for ever and ever.